Crackdown on Islamists: Bangladesh’s new campaign against Jihadi terror in perspective

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Abstract

Earlier this month, Bangladesh’s security forces carried out a nationwide crackdown on radical Islamists in the country. The main part of the campaign ran over several days and included interventions by thousands of police and paramilitary personal, led to the arrest of more than 11,300 people. This security operation has to be understood in light of rising international and domestic critic regarding the apparent inaction by the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) as a wave of brutal assassinations flooded the country. The victims were secular and liberal writers and thinkers (especially bloggers), university professors, foreign aid workers, gay rights activists and religious minorities such as Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and members of the Shiite community. Subsequently, many observers were wondering if the current GoB is capable of protecting the fundamental rights -and the lives- of its citizens. However, the Sheikh Hasina’s administration reacted and initiated a massive clampdown in an attempt to contain and eliminate of the Islamist threat. (...)